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Affairs of Cuba 



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SPEECH 

OF • -y^ 



•r 



OF MARYLAND, 

DELIVERED IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

JUNE 14, 1870. 



The House having under consideration the joint resolution reported by the 
Committee on Foreign Affairs in relation to Cuba — 

Mr. SWANN said: 

Mr. Speaker : I regret to find myself separated from my honorable friend 
from Indiana [Mr. Orth] and the gentlemeu who have united with him in the 
minority report. It is a source of congratulation, however, to me that we are 
agreed upon one point ; and that is that something must be done for the suffer- 
ing people of Cuba. I feel dso gratified that I am spared the labor which would 
otherwise have been imposed upon me by the position in which I find myself by 
the able and exhaustive argument of the honorable gentleman from Massachu- 
setts, [Mr. Banks.] He has relieved me of the necessity in presenting the 
Anew which I propose to take of this most important question, of going into 
many of the details which I would have felt bound to exhibit to the House in 
illustration and defence of the position I have assumed. 

Mr. Speaker, for months past the Committee on Foreign Affairs have had 
under consideration various important memorials which have been referred to 
them concerning the rights of American citizenship and the duties of this Gov- 
ernment in maintaining its relations with foreign power?. Among these was 
the recognition of neutral rights in Cuba, upon which an elaborate report had 
been prepared by the honorable chairman of that committee, [Mr. Ranks,] and 
a day appointed for its discussion •in this House. It was not without profound 
astonishment and regret, on the eve of that discussion, thatd witnessed the 
proceedings of yesterday. The President of the United Statesffbrgetting what 
was due to the committee and to the dignity of this House, but with a view to 
anticipate its action, came before us with a message which I will venture to say 
is without precedent in our past legislative history. It was a deliberate attempt 
to influence the action of this House ; it was an insult to its members and to 
the country. It was an announcement that the American Congress was incap- 
able of forming a judgment of its own. upon great questions of public policy 
without the advisory aid of the Executive. This message, evidently the work 
of counsel, contains no new fact which would bring it within the province of 
the Executive in communicating information to this House. It discloses no- 
thing that was not as well known to the committee as to the President. It was 
gratuitous and uncalled. for in the discharge of any official duty imposed upon 
him. 

The report of the chairman of the committee on the affairs of Cuba having 
gone forth to the public, it became necessary, in the absence of the requisite 
intelligence on the part of this House, to break the effect which it was so well 
calculated to produce ; and the President of the United States, taking his posi- 
tion at the Clerk's desk as the advocate of Spain, pours out his budget of as- 



* / 



Burned facts, illogical inferences, and undigested absurdities upon the patriot 
cause of Cuba. Did General Grant mean by this novel exhibition to divert 
public attention from the weakness and imbecility of his past management of 
our foreign policy? Does he think that the people have forgotten it, or will 
ever forgive him for it ? He tells you that the Spaniards and the insurgents 
are all barbarians alike, but does he give you any evidence of this beyond the 
fact that the latter have been driven to the lex talionis and a mode of warfare 
wholly beyond their control as a sheer measure of self-protection ? He tells 
you that the insurgents have no established government ; but does he get this 
from any other than Spanish sources, in whose interest he is speaking ? He 
tells you that there is no formidable opposition to the authority of Spain, and 
yet he admits that wiih eighty thousand men and a navy equal to our own, 
Spain had»*made no progress up to this time in putting down the rebellion. Is 
not this evidence of a state of war ? He tells you that outrages have been per- 
petrated upon our citizens. Does he propose any plan of relief in the future 
beyond the miserable protests and remonstrances of which he speaks, which 
have emboldened Spain and made him ridiculous? He tells you 'with a shrug 
that the patriot government has issued bonds to be used in achieving its inde- 
pendence. Does he not know that the American people did the same thing in 
•their struggle for liberty ? He tells you that the declaration of neutrality 
would entitle Spain to enlarged powers, under the treaty of 1795, and would 
revive the right of search ; but he does not know that that treaty was nego- 
tiated to secure freedom from the right of search, and has been so interpreted 
by the. highest judicial tribunal in the country ? But apart from this, does he 
seriously believe that an attempt will ever be made to revive this right, aud 
least of all by a contemptible power like Spain ? 

Mr. GARFIELD, of Ohio. On what ground does the gentleman say that the 
President had no right to make a communication of this sort ? 

Mr. SWA NX. I said that pending the discussion of a great question of this 
sort in the House of Representatives it was unbecoming in the President, of the 
United States to intrude himself into this House for the purpose of controlling 
its deliberations. 

Mr. GARFIELD, of Ohio. I understood the gentleman to deny his right. 

Mr. SWANN. I do not deny the right, but I deny the propriety of such a 
movement on the part of the President of the United States. 

Mr. Speaker, this effort of General Grant to intrude himself into the delibera- 
tion of this House, and to influence and forestall its legislation to the detriment 
of a people struggling for liberty, or for any other purpose, is a precedent too 
dangerous to be viewed without alarm. It should receive an indignant rebuke 
at the hands of this House. The co-ordinate branches of this Government must 
be kept distinct and separate. General Grant has no business to appear before 
us in any such partisan character. He has* no right to interfere. No one 
knows better than he does the condition of things in Cuba, and the insults to 
which we have been subjected ; and to claim that we have no right to correct 
these evils, even by the application of force, if necessary, is below the standard 
of American statesmanship and degrading to a nation like this. 

Mr. Speaker, this message of the President indicates no fixed polic3 7 for the 
future but that of inactivity and non-interference. He wants the struggling Cu- 
bans to lay down their arms and submit to the despotism which is attempted to 
be fastened upon them. It is no more, than we had a right. to expect.' Our in- 
stitutions are to continue to be outraged, our commercial relations with Cuba 
interrupted, and our citizens murdered in cold blood, to say nothing of the war 
upon humanity which has been going on with such revolting cruelty for months 
past. No American citizen will be safe in Cuba after this policy has been an- 
nounced, if we fold our arms in quiet submission, as General Grant recom- 
mends, to await the tardy development of events, extending maternal aid and 
sympathy to Spain in the mean time, as we are doingm>i|f we shall fall beneath 
the dignity of the weakest power with which we hold intercourse to-day. I had 
hoped, sir, that we had reached a period when we could stand above the devices 
which are sometimes resorted to to intimidate weak governments ; but the bug- 
bear of a war with Spain, so prominent a feature in General Grant's message, 

10 JAr\*-^ 



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has caused that high officer to tremble at the very idea of intervention, ov the 
\ passage of any resolution by this House, and to forget the power and greatness 

of the nation over which he presides. The American people will sink appalled 
4 at the degrading picture which it presents. 

The joint resolutions reported by the majority of the Committee on Foreign 
■< Affairs, which I hold in my hand, are in the following words : 

Resolved by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United Stales of America in Congress 
assembled, That the President of the, llniced States be, ami hereby is, authorized and instructed 
to declare and maintain a strictly impartial neutrality on the part of the Government of the 
United States in the contest now existing between the people of Cuba and the Government of 
the kingdom of Spain. 

Sec. 2. And be it further resolved. That all provisions of the statute approved 20th of April, ISIS, 
entitled "An act in addition to the act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United 
States, and to repeal the acts therein mentioned," shall be construed to apply equally to each 
of the parties in the existing contest between the people of Cuba and the Government of 
Spain. 

Sico. 3. That the President is hereby authorized and requested to lemonstrate against the 
barbarous manner in which the war in Cuba has been conducted, and, if he shall deem it expe- 
dient, to solicit the co-operation of other governments in such measures as lit- may deem neces- 
sary to secure from both contending parties an observance of the laws of war recognized by all 
civilized nations. 

The substitute proposed b} r the minority comprises the following provisions : 

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress 
assembled, That if any person shall, within the limits of the United States, lit out, arm, or equip, 
or attempt to tit out, arm, or equip, or procure to be fitted out, armed, or equipped, or shall 
knowingly be concerned in the fitting out, arming, or equipping, of any ship or vessel, with intent 
that such ship or vessel shall be employed in the service of any European prince or State, for the 
purpose of subduing American colonists claiming independence, or shall issue or deliver a com- 
mission within the territory of the United States for any ship or vessel with the intent that she 
may be employed as aforesaid, every person so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, and, 
upon conviction thereof, shall be flued in any sum not exceeding rive thousand dollars, and be 
imprisoned for a period not exceeding two years nor less than six months ; and every such ship 
or vessel, With her tackle, apparel, and furniture, together with all materials, arms, ammunition, 
and stores, which may have been procured for the building and equipment thereof, shall be for- 
feited, one-half to the use of the informer and the other half to the United States. 

Sec. 2. And be it further enacted, That in every case where a ship or vessel Shall be fitted out, 
armed, or equipped, or attempted to be fitted out, armed, or equipped, contrary to the provisions 
of this act, it shall be lawful .for the President of the United States, or such person as he shall 
have empowered for that purpose, to employ the land or naval forces, or the militia of the 
United States, or any part thereof, for the purpose of taking possession of and detaining any such 
ship or vessel. 

Sec. 3. And be it further enacted, T! at the provisions of the act approved April 20, 1818, entitled 
"An act in addition to the act for the punishment of certain crimes against the United States, 
and to repeal the acts therein mentioned," shall be held to apply and be in force as to all at- 
tempts of American colonies, or parts thereof, to assert their independence; and the words 
"colonies, districts, or peoples" in such act shall be held to apply to and include all such Ameri- 
can colonists claiming independence, as described in the first section of this act. 

The leading resolution reported by the majority, in which I cordially concur, 
proposes to recognize the existence of a state of war in Cuba, and to pledge this 
Government to a strict neutrality as between the contending powers. In' invit- 
ing attention to this subject I am quite aware of the responsibility which it im- 
poses upon the committee and upon the House in any action they may deem it 
their duty to recommend. I have risen with no purpose, therefore, to make a 
sensation speech. I would alla3 r rather than increase the excitement which the 
introduction of this subject produced a few days ago upon this floor among 
gentlemen of both political parties. It cannot have escaped notice that for 
months past the country has been watching with intense interest every phase 
in the revolution now going forward in Cuba ; and it cannot be doubted for a 
moment that the sympathies of the American people are with the patriot cause in 
that abused and oppressed land. 

When Spain threw off the j^oke of that corrupt dynasty which had brought 
her government to the verge of ruin, the people of Cuba, sympathizing with 
the revolution, indulged the hope that with the freedom of the home govern- 
ment a more auspicious future awaited them in the reconstruction which was 
expected to follow. They had suffered under the rigor of an exacting and ab- 
solute despotism, with no voice in the administration of their own affairs ; their 
property held by uncertain tenures, their dearest rights trampled upon and dis- 
regarded, and with no appeal from the tyrant sway which had been exercised 
over them, and which had reduced them almost to the condition of abject 
slavery. Situated so near our borders, they had caught the inspiration of our 
free institutions, and had become restless under the disappointments which had 
attended all their previous efforts at reform. But this dream of a new era in 
their political condition was, I regret to say, of short duration. The Spanish 
people had not been educated to understand the value of freedom. It became 



necessary that they should decide upon the form of government which was to 
liberalize their institutions and take the place of that which had been overturned 
by their efforts. It was a period of intense interest to Cuba. Up to this mo- 
ment, strange as it would seem, no definite action has been taken ; but enough 
had transpired to justify the inference that Spain has fallen back into her nor- 
mal condition, and that the prospects of Cuba to-day are even worse than before 
the revolution took place. 

To this cause, Mr. Speaker, we are to attribute the antagonism which has 
grown up among- the natives of that island against the provisional government- 
of Spain, and which has enlisted to so great an extent the sympathies, not only 
of our people, but of the civilized world. 

I am free to confess, Mr. Speaker, that the foreign policy of this Government, 
if indeed we have any, has not been such as to inspire confidence with any class 
of our citizens. It has been vacillating, timid, and indecisive. The claims of 
American citizenship have been lost sight of; war vessels have been fitted out 
in our waters, under the very eye of the President, to deal unjustly by a people 
struggling for freedom against despotism and oppression; our claims upon 
Great Britain for depredations upon our commerce have been postponed without 
a protest ; our citizens have been imprisoned and murdered in cold blood, and 
we have been compelled to throw ourselves on a memorable occasion upon the 
good offices of a foreign power to secure to us that protection which was the 
right and privilege of American citizenship, and which our own Government 
failed to extend to us. 

It is in no spirit of party that I speak thus strongly, and I am happy to find 
that I am Only reflecting the views of prominent gentlemen on the other side of 
the House. I am not here to deal unjustly with General Grant. I accord to 
him honesty of purpose, however lame and halting the policy which he has 
thought proper to adopt. If he has not come up to the standard which the 
people expected of him, it is a responsibility for which he will be held accoun- 
table, and from which no effort of mine would shield him, if I was disposed to 
act as his champion and defender. If his sympathies had been thrown with 
the struggling people of Cuba in the early stages of the rebellion, instead of 
being smothered by the unfriendly and uncalled-for rigor with which he execu- 
ted the laws of neutrality, Cuba would have been free to-day, and her citizens 
would have repaid the obligation by the establishment of a government in har- 
mony with our own. 

When this subject was before Congress at its last session I expressed my 
views at large in regard to the proper action of the committee to whom it had 
been referred from the then stand-point. I was prepared at that time to extend 
to the people of Cuba the moral support of this Government by the expression 
of our warmest sympathy in their struggles for freedom. Some of the South 
American republics had promptly recognized their belligerent rights. It was 
contended that there was no official evidence of any organized government or 
any formidable power capable of maintaining itself against the provisional gov- 
ernment of Spain, and without the existence of such a government and such a 
power we had no right to interfere. To a certain extent this was true. Since 
then, however, the war has gone on without abatement. The whole power of 
Spain has been brought into requisition to crush the rebellion and restore her 
relations with her people. Another j*ear has elapsed, and we find Cuba in the 
same attitude of resistance, hold out against all efforts at subjugation, and 
Spain, notwithstanding her protestations of triumph, and the pretended subsi- 
dence of all organized resistence to her authority, increasing rather than dimin- 
ishing her armies in that quarter. 

It is a significant fact, to which I call the attention of the House, that up to 
this time, in the face of the telegrams and sensation articles, which have be- 
come so frequent of late, heralding the complete success of Spain over her rebel- 
lious subjects, there has been no diminution of her force, notwithstanding the 
enormous expense to which she is subjected from day to day, and which must 
soon end in the bankruptcy of her treasury, if it has not reached that point 
already. Spain seems to have gained no decided advantage in the conduct of 
the war, and the fact is apparent that with the policy upon which the insurgents 



are acting, and their fixed determination never to submit to the authority of the 
mother country, they may hold out without limitation as to time. Are not these 
facts sufficient to justify a more decided policy on the part of this Government ? 
Is it not conclusive evidence of the state of belligerency for which the friends 
of Cuba are contending ? What the exact condition of the insurgents may be 
beyond the fact of their formidable numbers it will not be important to inquire. 
General Jordan, who was before the committee, states upon bis honor as a man 
of truth, that a bona fide government, republican in form, has been established 
in Cuba by the patriots of that island, and is now in full operation ; and that 
the people engaged in the rebellion constitute a very large element of their 
population ; that they have been underrated from the fact that their policy has 
been one of passive inaction ; not to meet the Spaniards in large numbers, or to 
be drawn into a pitched battle, but to worry them out by a running or guerilla 
warfare, which may be kept up so long as it may suit their purposes and allow 
time for other and more formidable combinations. This they believe to be the 
most effective mode of ultimately accomplishing their independence. 

Mr. Speaker, the information which we have obtained heretofore through 
Spanish sources has been entitled to little credit. ' Their interest has been to 
blind and mislead the public mind in regard to the persistence with which Cuba 
has held out and is still holding out against their immense power. The events 
of the war have been a sealed letter, so far as they could control them. No 
important information is permitted to leave the island except under the strictest 
surveillance, and it is only from some patriot who had evaded the vigilance of 
the authorities and made good his escape that we are kept posted in regard to 
what is transpiring from time to time. I have no doubt, from what we know 
already, that when the vail comes to be lifted Ave shall have presented to us a 
picture of tyranny and oppression and human suffering Avhich will be without a 
parallel in the world's history. 

But what is the duty of this Government as the case stands before us to-day ? 
Are we to continue to withhold all expression of sympatic with these strug- 
gling people, in the face, too, of the unfriendly spirit which the armies of Spain 
have -manifested toward this Government and the daily outrages upon our citi- 
zens ? Are we to persevere in this policy of weakness and indecision, which, 
while it has emboldened Spain to pi-esume upon our forbearance, has entailed 
incalculable injury upon the patriot cause and the suffering people of Cuba ? I 
am for passing this resolution. I am for proclaiming our strict neutrality as 
between the belligerents on the island. Our right is indisputable, and my sym- 
pathy for the insurgents prompts me to this action.. I see no reason why we 
should help Spain in such a contest ; but I do see very great reason why we 
should extend all the moral aid in our power to a people who are suffering under 
the j^oke of oppression, who are friendly to free government, and desire to fol- 
low the example which we have set them. If there is no contending element 
presenting the proportions that we claim, as Spain would have us believe, our 
action can do no harm; but if there is, the sympathies of the American people 
are with Cuba and against Spain, and the sooner she is made to realize it the 
better. 

The outrages upon our citizens, to which I have referred, is a view of this 
subject to which we cannot shut our eyes. The people of this country demand 
that the rights of American citizenship shall be respected, not only in Cuba, but 
throughout the world. Spain has not done this, as the report of the committee 
abundantly shows. On the contrary, she has permitted or proved herself unable 
to prevent insults and outrages which the people of this country will submit to 
no longer. I do not propose to refer in detail to the facts stated in the report 
of the chairman of the committee showing these acts of wanton insult to Ameri- 
can citizens, but I point to them to show the necessity of some action on our 
part to let Spain know that the American people are not indifferent spectators 
of these unfriendly acts. 

It may be well to allude to the fact that Cuba to-day is virtually in the hands 
of those who have been sent there to defend it. The volunteers who compose 
the army are in undisputed possession of the island, hostile alike to Spain and 
the United States. The Captain General has no recognized authority but to 



I 

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carry out their wishes and register their edicts. This does not diminish the 
responsibility of the Spanish Government. These volunteers, composed of men 
of the most despotic tendencies — desperate in their purposes and their fortunes, 
and aspiring to the absolute possession of the island at no distant day — have 
conducted this war in a manner revolting to humanity, and calling for interfer- 
ence in the interest of humanity, if nothing else. But they have committed out- 
rages upon our citizens which Spain, if she was disposed, is unable to prevent. 
They are awaiting the termination of the war with the insurgents that they 
may wage war upon Spain, who, powerless now, will be still more prostrate 
when she finds this force arra} r ed against her. I refer to this fact to show the 
complications that are daily assuming importance and which will have to be 
dealt with in the future. 

This Government can make no treaty with such an element, nor can she 
quietly submit to the existence, at her own door, of a government beyond the 
pale of civilization, hostile to her free institutions,, and a stumbling-block in the 
way of moral and religious development. The report of the minority refers to 
the Monroe doctrine and the propriety of its permanent re-enactment as the 
settled policy of this country. In the main I have no fault to find with it. The 
Monroe doctrine has answered well its day and generation. It was announced 
as the policy of this Government when we were in the infancy of our growth. 
I for one am opposed to any restrictions which that doctrine may impose at the 
present advanced stage of our national progress. The American people expect 
that this Government will take its stand among the nations of the earth; first, 
because she is to-day the most powerful and commanding. She must stretch 
forth her arm in vindication of the rights of man, whenever and wherever they 
may be ruthlessly invaded, and lend its protection to suffering hunianhVy, from 
whatever quarter the appeal may come. 

I am not one of those who covet an extension of territory. I do not desire 
the annexation of Cuba, or any other outlying colony. I am content with what 
we have. But while I say this, I must say with equal emphasis that I would 
permit no interference with the great mission upon which we have entered. If 
Cuba, under the guardianship of Spain, stands in the way the consequences 
will be with herself. If she persists in the oppression of her people, in the vio- 
lation of the rights of American citizenship, in the disregard of the common 
laws of humanity, she must be taught the example which this nation holds out 
to her. She must recognize the laws of advanced civilization, or she cannot 
exist long, whether as a province of Spain or an independent power in such close 
proximity to the American people. Her soil will be invaded in the interest of 
freedom, and the American flag will float over her in spite of the combined 
powers of the world. 

The report of the minority of the Committee on Foreign Affairs seems to me 
to arrive at the same conclusion substantially as those reported by the chair- 
man, [Mr. Banks,] with the single exception that the minority propose to report 
a bill, general in its character, applying to any future conflict in any American 
possessions of a European power. It presents, in my judgment, a distinction 
without a material difference. Such a general law is not necessary to carry 
out the object proposed by the minority, nor will such a form of law make the 
action of the committee any more palatable to Spain, if the desire be to avoid 
her displeasure. The whole object of the majority is the enforcement of the 
strictest neutrality on the part of this ■ Government between the conflicting 
powers. If similar cases arise hereafter with other European nations they will 
be dealt with as circumstances may suggest, and it will be time enough to take 
up such cases at thej r occur. 

Besides, Mr. Speaker, in reference to other European powers, who have not 
violated the laws of humanity or acted in an unfriendly spirit toward this Gov- 
ernment, I am not disposed to take any present action whatever. I do not see 
the propriety or advantage of any such general law, nor do I see that the con- 
version into law of the Monroe doctrine is a matter in which we have any par- 
ticular interest. The measures reported by both the majority and minority 
look to neutrality; and this is all that the majority propose. The report of the 
minority admits that Congress may exercisa this power. If Spain takes offence 



much more would other European powers take offence, where their relations 
were friendly to this Government and no good reason existed for such action. 
I can see no sufficient argument for any such general law. Spain can do as she 
pleases. If she commits outrages upon humanity and the rights of American 
citizenship, she can only blame herself for the special legislation which this 
action proposes. 
The minority say : 

" We do not deem it necessary to raise any question as to the right of this Government to make 
a general declaration of neutrality." 

They also make a distinction between the right and the duty to do it. Now 
it occurs to me, Mr. Speaker, that there is too much special pleading and nice 
refinement in the reasoning of the report of the minority. When they concede 
" that the policy proposed by them in the present and future cases waives any 
question of power, character, or prospects of the revolutionary party, that it 
assumes the right of American countries to self-government, and declares the 
policy of this Government as not inimical to the assertion of that right in any 
case," they concede really all that the majority are contending for ; and whether 
their action is in the shape of a general or special law, applying to one or all, 
does not materially alter the case. 

The right of a government to make a declaration of neutrality, as proposed 
in the resolution of the majority, cannot be questioned for a moment. All the 
writers upon international law have laid down the rule upon this subject, which 
cannot well be mistaken. My colleagues in the minority refer to the authority 
of Mr. Adams in support of the American doctrine. That distinguished publi- 
cist says, in his correspondence with Earl Russell : 

" If. after the lapse of a reasonable period, there be little prospect of a termination of the strug- 
gle, especially it tins be carried on upon the ocean, a recognition of the parties as belligerents 
appears to > oe justifiable, and at that time, so far as I can ascertain, such a step has never in fact 
been objected io." 

This is sound doctrine, and differs in nowise from the universally recognized 
precedents upon this subject. The minority further refer to the language of Mr. 
Dana, in his edition of Wheaton's International Law : 

» The occasion for the accordance of belligerent rights arises when a civil conflict exists within 
a loifign state. Ihe reason which requires and can alone justify this step by the government of 
anoiner country is that its own rights and interests are so far affected as to require a definition of 
its own relations to the parties." 

The majority are perfectly willing to stand upon the doctrine as laid down in 
both the extracts to which I have referred. This country has certainly waited 
a " reasonable period » for the termination of this war in Cuba. That hostili- 
ties are_ still going forward to such an extent, on the part of the insurgents, as 
to require the whole power of the provisional government to hold it in check, is 
also a fact- which cannot be disputed. If there is no formidable opposition to 
the government assuming the proportions of war, if the rebellion is at an end, 
why not at once dismiss the volunteers and send them back to Spain? Mr. 
Dana's reasoning is equally to the point : " The rights and interests of this 
Government have been so far affected as to require a definition of its own rela- 
tions to the parties." The drift of events in Cuba can never be recognized as 
in accordance with the " interests " of the American people, and the outrages 
which have been perpetrated upon our own citizens can never receive the sanc- 
tion of the civilized world. I see no reason, therefore, to object to either of the 
authorities referred to in the minority report, and have to thank my colleagues 
h>r the support they give to the action proposed to be taken by the majority of 
the committee. 

In drawing a distinction between the right of this Government to pass a reso- 
lution of strict neutrality between Spain and her oppressed people and the duty 
imposed upon us to maintain the honor of our flag, the minority of the commit- 
tee seem to ignore all the facts, startling as they appear in the report of the 
majority. Have these facts been questioned or denied ? What duty can be 
more imperative than that which looks to the protection of our citizens ? Has 
not this Government forborne long enough? Are our relations with Spain such 
as to induce us to forego the exercise of any right which attaches under the law 
of nations, especially when by so doing, in the case of Spain, we throw the 
weight of our influence in uDholdini? the acts of inhumanity which have marked 



LIBRARY OF CONGRE 



the progress of the war ? Will any one deny that the strugg 1 015 999 813 
potie and free government ? Nor am I less surprised that the minority smruiu: 
refer to the " offense " which the adoption of this resolution may give to Spain. 
In legislating upon questions affecting the great principles of free government 
such arguments are humiliating to our national pride. In planting ourselves 
upon right andjustice it is to he presumed that we are prepared to meet any 
consequences which our action may provoke, and whether offensive to Spain or 
any other European power, could hardly influence the action of the American 
Congress. The minority seem to proceed upon the idea that we have no cause 
of complaint against Spain to justify this declaration of neutrality, as the least 
rigorous of all the modes of showing our displeasure at her past conduct. Our 
duty to a suffering people, apart from the outrages to our own citizens, would 
furnish sufficient ground for the most summary intervention, not only on our 
part, but that of any civilized power. 

"The savage and remorseless spirit in which the Spaniards seek to crush out the Cuban rebellion 
has made friends for it of multitudes in this country who were indifferent to its success before. 
When old men like General Goicouria a::d boys like the sons of President Cespedes; when non- 
combatants, planters, officers of all ranks, privates by the score, are garroted or shot as soon as 
they are made captive, it cannot be expected that hearts not made of iron can refuse to sympa- 
thize. The cruel and murderous spirit of Spain seems invulnerable to all the humanizing influ- 
ences of the age. It is indeed one of the few qualities of the Spaniard, that still remind men of 
the nation which once disputed with the English race the empire of the Sew World, and which 
has lost almost everything it ever had but the obstinate and merciless spirit which h*as driven all 
its colonies into revolt, and compelled them all except one or two to achieve their independence. 
As we have over and over said, our Government ought to remonstrate and protest sigainst the 
barbarous and Woody doings of the Spaniards in Cuba, and without reference to anything else in 
either the majority or minority report of the committee, we rejoice. that Mr. Banks makes such a 
suggestion. There is no doubt, from what was said lqn'g ago in Parliament by a member of Mr. 
Gladstone's administration, that the British Government would be glad to unite with, our own in 
any measure that might be thought necessary for putting a stop to the atrocious and daily cruel- 
ties of the Spaniards to their helpless Cuban captives."— Baltimore Sun, June 13. 

This question of Cuba, Mr. Speaker, is one which has been exciting the coun- 
try for months past, and should be disposed of upon some fair basis. Their 
recognition as in a state of belligerency is all that is asked at our hands ; and 
upon every principle of right and duty I do not see how we can longer withhold 
it. The idea that such recognition can lead to a war with Spain is simply an 
absurdity. It is the exercise of an undoubted' right, sanctioned by the usage of 
nations in their relations with each other. But were it 'otherwise, I should not 
be intimidated by the propability of any such contingency. The responsibility 
would be with Spain, and the first gun fired in such a war would give her little 
to trouble herself about in the future in her relations with that island, or it may 
be her own continued existence as an independent power. 

Mr. Speaker, I do not propose to pursue this subject further. As a member 
of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, I felt it due to myself that I should pre- 
sent my views to this House for what they are worth. I am amazed at the utter 
demoralization into which our foreign polic t y has fallen since the present admin- 
istration came into power, when a petty despotism like Spain can insult our flag 
and murder our citizens with impunity. Protection, sir, is the right of the citi- 
zen. It stands at the very base of all government. What are your commerce 
upon the seas and the immunity of your citizens abroad without it ? I have no 
desire to provok£°war in any form or with any people. I deprecate war as the 
greatest calamity that could befall a nation. But I am free to say that even 
war, with all its sacrifices, has no terror for me when great principles are 
involved. I would see this broad land ablaze with excitement from center to 
circumference, and its great highways alive with moving armies, rather than that 
the humblest of our citizens should suffer at the bauds of foreign arrogance and 
presumption. We must be vigilant and exacting in demanding justice and 
repelling insult, if we would retain the confidence of our people. No nation can 
be great unless she places a proper estimate upon both her power and her obli- 
gations of clutj-. 



Published by the National Democratic Executive Resident Committee, Washington, D. C. 



